(Luton, 21.12.07) In the battle of the UK's Top Finger Jousters Richard Gottfried held onto his one-year undefeated streak by beating his arch-rival Emily Gottfried 6-2 in Point Play Rules.

The match started well for Richard who scored two quick points by hitting both of Emily's legs, followed by a twisting neck shot for a further two. However, Emily fought back and hit a two-pointer with a questionable 'low chest' shot on Richard to bring her back into the game. But a win for Emily was not on the cards and by planting two well placed shots onto Emily's right leg Richard extended his undefeated streak to 48 wins since 21st December 2006.

Commenting on his well-earned victory Richard said "Emily has proven time and again to be a tough opponent and excellent proponent of the art of Finger Jousting, but I'm on a hot streak at the moment and it won't be long until I am crowned as the Undisputed Worlds Finger Jousting Champion."

Over the past year the progress of the UK's top Obscure Sportsmen and Women have been charted on this site, with tales of heroic triumph and mediocrity in sports including Minigolf, Finger Jousting and Ten Pin Bowling.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

In a match-up bigger than Ali vs Foreman, Andre vs Hogan, Ace Man vs Big Top or Hatton vs Mayweather, tomorrow (21/12/07) sees Gottfried vs Gottfried in a face-off between the UK's top two Finger Jousters.

Heading into the match Richard Gottfried is on a one-year, 47-bout undefeated streak that began on 21/12/06 when he beat tomorrow's opponent Emily Gottfried. The streak began on the same day he suffered only his 9th loss (4th of his 'Pro' Career), which ironically came at the hands (index finger?) of Emily herself.

"In point play, different parts of the body count for different amounts of points. The legs and latent arm count as one point. The chest, back, and neck count as two points. The head counts as three points. Point play matches are played to six for tournaments, but when playing leisurely any number above two is allowed." http://www.fingerjoust.com/

Friday, November 09, 2007

Luton Minigolfer Richard Gottfried sunk the final putt of his debut season on the British Minigolf Association 2007 Tour at the BMGA Kent Open last weekend (4th November). Richard finished strongly in the season finale, carding a score of 124 over three rounds, just 12 shots off the tournament winner Sean Homer, and placing 12th of 32 players in a field containing some of the best Minigolfers in Great Britain and the world.

Richard, 27 is now ranked as the 34th best Minigolfer in the BMGA 2007 Order of Merit after gaining 527 Ranking Points since making his first appearance in the BMGA British Masters in April. In total Richard has competed in ten tournaments and played 660 holes of competitive Minigolf on the 2007 Tour, which has seen him travel to courses in Brighton, Margate, Hastings, Southend and Warwick.

Among his best results this season were his 4th place in the BMGA Midlands Invitational Tournament (MIT) and his 5th place finish in the BMGA Players Championship.

Richard said “I feel this has been a great year of competition for me, I have played in some big tournaments against the top players. There have been many great moments for me this season including making the cut for the second day of the BMGA British Open; my 4th and 5th place finishes in the MIT and the BMGA Players Championship, and taking part in the World Crazy Golf Championships. I am looking forward to the start of play on the 2008 Tour and some more top ten finishes.”

Richard added “My next three goals in my Minigolf career are to win a tournament on the BMGA Tour, reach the top 20 of the BMGA British Rankings and to play for the Great Britain Team in a World or European Championship.”

Veterans of the BMGA Tour have also noticed Richard’s talents, with Four-Time World Crazy Golf Champion Tim ‘Ace Man’ Davies calling Richard “The most promising talent to arrive on the British Minigolf scene since me."

Richard’s first tournaments of the 2008 Tour include the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open, the BMGA Matchplay Knockout Tournament and the BMGA Irish Open in Belfast.

Below is a photo of Richard putting on the 16th hole 'Shark's Teeth’ at Margate.

On Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th October Luton Crazy Golfers Richard Gottfried and Emily Gottfried competed in the Virgin Money World Crazy Golf Championship 2007 at the Seafront Adventure Golf Complex in Hastings

Unfortunately neither Richard nor Emily was able to become the World Crazy Golf Champion; however a new Champion was crowned, with Birmingham’s Chris Harding taking the title from Four-Time Champ Tim ‘Ace Man’ Davies. Chris won with a seven round (126-hole) total of 248 (an average of 1.96 shots per hole).

Richard ended the tournament ranked as the 39th best Crazy Golfer in the World with a six round (108-hole) total of 255 (2.36 shots per hole). He also managed to get the joint lowest score of the weekend – a 32 – scoring five holes-in-one in the round on the Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf Course. Over the whole tournament only four other players managed to score a 32 and they finished in 1st, 3rd, 6th and 15th.

Richard said of his score “This was a great achievement for me as it was my best score ever on any Crazy Golf course in my Minigolf career, it was a great feeling to score five Aces in a round.”

Emily finished as the 6th best female player, but 54th in the overall competition with a score of 265 (2.45 shots per hole). In the first four rounds Emily was drawn to play against then Champion Tim ‘Ace Man’ Davies and in the third round both he and Emily carded scores of 43.

Emily said “The competition was great fun, but tough. Playing against ‘Ace Man’ for four rounds was exciting, and it was really satisfying to match his score on one of the rounds. I was really pleased with my performance and 54th place finish for my first tournament. Richard fully deserved has 39th place finish, but I will beat him next year!”

Commenting on the tournament and his opponents Richard said “Chris Harding is a very deserving new World Champion; he led the tournament from the very first round and played an excellent game despite the wet and windy conditions on the second day. Emily was also a very tough opponent and she was only ten shots off my final score, so the final round was very tense to see which of us would come out on top.”

The final tournament on the BMGA 2007 Tour will see Richard play in the BMGA Kent Open in Margate.

First up was the BMGA Midlands Invitational Tournament where 26 year-old Richard placed 4th of 9 players, finishing with a score over two rounds of 83, carding scores of 42 and 41. In this tournament he finished just below British Number 3 John Moore and above British Number 2 Chris Harding.

Next was the BMGA Midlands Open tournament, which was played over three rounds. Here Richard finished with a score of 125 (42-41-42) which placed him 15th of 22 players, 16 shots off the winner James Trubridge who won with a score of 109.

Overall Richard scored 5 Holes-in-One in the BMGA Midlands Open.

Richard said “I think my scoring was consistent throughout the competitions, I’m yet to make a sub-40 score on this course but I did get a personal best score of 41. When I last played here in the BMGA English Open I finished 23rd of 26 competitors, so to finish with a 4th and 15th place is a great achievement for me.”

Richard’s recent performances on the BMGA Tour have seen him rise up the rankings since making his April debut to his current position of 33rd in Great Britain.

The next stops on the BMGA 2007 tour will see Richard competing in the World Crazy Golf Championships in Hastings and competing in Margate in November in the season closing BMGA Kent Open.

Attached is a photo of Richard lining up a shot on the 16th hole at the Warwick course.

This past weekend Richard Gottfried from Luton played in the British Minigolf Association (BMGA) Players Championship and British Open tournaments at Strokes Adventure Golf Course in Margate, Kent.

Playing in his fourth and fifth tournaments of the 2007 BMGA Tour, 26 year-old Richard placed 5th out of 27 British competitors in the BMGA Players Championship on Friday 14th September. At the end of the first round of ‘Stroke play’ Richard was lying in 4th place with a personal best score on the course of 38, one stroke behind British Champion and British Number 1 Chris Harding and just 6 strokes off the British course record. Making the ‘cut’ to the second round of ‘Match play’ he lost by one-hole to eventual Players Championship winner Steve Gow.

On Saturday 15th September Richard began play in the 10th Annual BMGA British Open and scored a total of 178 after the first four rounds, which saw him finish the day in 35th position and therefore reaching the final the following day.

In the final two rounds before the ‘Super Play-off Final’ Richard scored a 42 followed by an equal personal best score of 38. Scoring 4 holes-in-one (Aces) these scores moved him up to a final position of 29th in a field of 46 top British and International miniature golfers. His achievements on the course over the weekend also meant that he finished 19th of 36 in the BMGA British Championships. The overall winner of the 2007 BMGA British Open was Jouni Valkjarvi from Finland who scored a total of 244 over 7 rounds.

Richard said “I am extremely pleased with my performance in both the Players Championship and the British Open. I was also really happy that I made the cut to reach the second day of the British Open. That was my main goal heading into the tournament. Getting two sub 40 scores in a major contest like the British Open is a great confidence boost and I am looking forward to the next competitions on the tour.”

2007 British Champion and current British Number 1 Chris Harding commented “It's always difficult to attract new players to the Minigolf tour. When you do come across somebody as enthusiastic as Richard, who wants to learn and improve quickly, then it's a real joy. His performance in Margate, on a really difficult course, was full of promise. Qualifying for the final eight in the Players Championship and making the cut in the British Open was a great achievement so early in Richard's career.”

Commenting on Richard’s performance over the weekend Four-Time World Crazy Golf Champion and British Number 2 Tim ‘Ace Man’ Davies, who played against Richard in the first four rounds of the competition, said “Richard played some great rounds in the British Open and is probably the most promising talent to arrive on the British Minigolf scene since me."

The next stops on the BMGA 2007 tour will see Richard competing in the BMGA Midlands Open in Warwick, the World Crazy Golf Championships in Hastings and competing back in Margate in November in the season closing BMGA Kent Open.

Notes for Editors:Richard Gottfried made his BMGA debut at the BMGA British Masters tournament in Southend-on-Sea on 24th April 2007 where he finished 24th of 28 players, and second in the ‘Novice’ category. He has since competed in the BMGA English Open in Warwick and the BMGA Brighton Open.

More information on the British Minigolf Association can be found at www.minigolf.org.uk

Full results and a report on the tournaments can be found at the website of the Kent Minigolf Club: http://www.kentminigolfclub.co.uk/British%20Open%202007.htm

Photo: Richard Gottfried lining up a shot on the 11-hole 'Heartbreak Ridge'Photo Courtesy of Sean Homer

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Continuing the theme of closed mini golf courses, after travelling to Alton Towers on Monday we found that due to the severe weather the Extraordinary Golf course was closed as it was (very) waterlogged!

There was however a 'WIN A CAR HOLE IN ONE GOLF CHALLENGE' inside the park where you had to pitch a ball into a hole on an island in the middle of the lake! I didn't win the car.

The rest of the park was 'open as usual' though and there were some great rides and good food.

Monday, February 12, 2007

On 22nd March 2007 Macmillan Cancer Support are holding their 'Annual Bowling Challenge' at the Namco Station in Luton and a team of Ham & Eggers will be turning out to do their best.

Current champions Plumbs DIY have been lobbying for the charity to only allow teams who are "not very good" to compete, but the Ham & Egger team will be bowling their socks off in order to win the prestigious champions shield at the event!

Monday, January 29, 2007

Every year Punxsutawney Phil (The Groundhog) emerges at around 7.25am (around 12.25pm UK time) and 'prognosticates' on whether there will be an early spring, or if there will be a prolonged winter. If he sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter weather. If he does not see his shadow, there will be an early spring.

Last year Phil saw his shadow and so there was to be six more weeks of winter!

Visit www.groundhog.org to find out more about the tradition of Groundhog Day.

You can watch this years event at - http://www.visitpa.com/visitpa/home.pa

As of Monday 22nd January 2007 I have been an official member of the British Minigolf Association (BMGA) 2007 Tour!

I have entered the world of Crazy/Mini/Adventure Golf and plan to compete in as many tournaments as possible, including the British Masters and the PHCGC Open, building towards my participation in the event at the pinnacle of the Crazy Golf Calendar - the 2007 World Crazy Golf Championships which will take place in October.

Further information on the British Minigolf Association can be found on the BMGA website.